Review by Ian Keogh

Finding a tavern at the end of the world, our heroes Rex and Rolf naturally enough stopped in for a drink, and equally naturally found themselves evicted. Eighty Eyes on an Evil Island ended with Rolf extremely unhappy at finding himself back in his homeland of Dwayre, and the remainder of the cast wondering where they were. Oh, and there are now two versions of Rex and Rolf, but thanks to the handy elf narrator at the start Jim Zub ensures everyone’s up to date.

Zub elicits plenty of laughs from there being alternate versions of the Skullkickers with very different personalities, and being back home, or at least a version of it, provides Rolf’s backstory, including the history of dwarves.

Skullkickers is a series that just keeps improving as both creators refine their craft. Zub’s comedy timing is precise and the dialogue sardonic and hilarious, while Huang’s artistic progress has been another delight. These pages are packed with characters, and were that the case when he started they’d have just looked messy. Here there’s space for everyone to breathe and there’s a flow to the action.

One ridiculous situation follows another, each of them commented on by the snarky narrator, and each possibly sillier than the previous. If you like your fantasy accompanied by comedy this is great stuff, and Zub never forgets his hanging plots, with the final page leading into Infinite Icons of the Endless Epic.

As is customary, the final section is more ‘Tavern Tales’, with the creators this time given a theme of looking back to the days of Rex and Rolf before their partnership, and this time including Kusia. Her tale is notable for being drawn by a then unknown Stjepan Šejić. It’s gorgeous, the best looking art, but the storytelling fails on the final page. Unsurprisingly, Zub writes the best of the shorts, with the demon Thool explaining the theory of alternate dimensions and his access to them.

The best Skullkickers to date can also be found as part of the third hardcover Treasure Trove, and the third paperback Compact Attack edition.